


Remembrance

by chelseyelric



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 15:44:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7514032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chelseyelric/pseuds/chelseyelric
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Mondatta's funeral and an unexpected confrontation, Zenyatta is feeling emotionally vulnerable and a little talkative. (Headcanon warning)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remembrance

**Author's Note:**

> Yes! Yes! Yes! Im so happy that my move only slowed my writing of this fic by one day. XD 
> 
> Prompt from scuzer:  
> Genji helping zenyatta would be a refreshing change. like helping zenny through mondatta's death or say, zenyatta is reminded of a time in his past were he was attacked (since zenyatta is an omnic i dont think he had the best of times when he was younger, i like to think he has meant a lot of unsavory characters in his time that did him harm - after all one of his lines is 'pain is an excellent teacher' and i feel like he says that from experience. poor dude) (lol bonus if genji goes "a wise monk once told me.." and he proceeds to tell zenny one of his own teachings lol) 
> 
> So, basically, I get all of the bonus points for this one. :3
> 
> Please enjoy!

As the crowd made their way somberly to their seats, Genji kept a vigilant eye from his shadowed place in the rafters of the grand cathedral. There were six sets of doors, ten stained glass windows and a group of approximately 200 combined people and omnics to monitor. But he would do it gladly to keep Zenyatta safe. 

Four days prior, according to Tracer's follow-up report with Overwatch, Tekhartha Mondatta had been assassinated by the sharpshooter called Widow Maker. Much of the world mourned the loss of such an influential, peaceful visionary, however, there were others who were absolutely overjoyed to see the omnic disposed of and would love the opportunity to dispose of another. This was the precise reason that Genji had insisted on keeping watch over his master and the private funeral, to assure that there would be no further loss of life. 

It was almost surreal that Mondatta's student, who looked so much like him, would be leading his wake and funeral service less than a week after the leader's last public appearance. The monk glided gracefully to his place on stage, touching down behind the podium and mic stand beside the ornate casket. Genji had to admit, though it was such an unfortunate occasion, Zenyatta looked absolutely stunning in his ceremonial robes.

He was swathed from shoulders to feet in beautiful flowing silks of deep red, pure white and any color imaginable between the two. The fabric shone like a beacon in the sea of black surrounding him; his gold bangles and anklets only causing him to stick out that much more. A handful of people whispered amongst themselves at the omnic's appearance, but he held up a hand to silence them.

It was then that he began making quick bouts of eye contact with nearly everyone in attendance, just as he and Genji had practiced doing days prior to the event. Zenyatta, unwittingly took a "deep breath," cooling his internal servers and steeling himself for the bold move that he was about to make.

"Human," he began. "Machine. We are all one within the iris." Those words captured the audience's attention, his commanding baritone reverberating from seemingly every direction. "Before me, I see the future. Humans and omnics standing together. United by compassion. By common hopes and dreams."

They could not believe their ears. Moving each being to silence and shivers, Zenyatta was the spitting image of the deceased omnic. It felt as if Mondatta was spiritually in the building with all of them. A few hesitantly pulled out video cameras and phones, capturing the retelling of Mondatta's last words. Genji felt that the actions were rude, but Zenyatta seemed to swell with pride, honored to have his master's message so well received.

Before anyone realized, Zenyatta was finished, bowing deeply to those in front of him, bowing to the remains of his mentor and floating once more off the stage, allowing others the chance to move forward and speak. Genji was so, unbelievably proud of his teacher, his friend, his lover, and he was certain that Mondatta would have been proud as well.

Much to the cyborg's relief, the funeral proceeded safely and without incident. Others spoke, Zenyatta was extended condolences and well wishes, then it was announced that Mondatta's remains would be done with as the omnic had directed before his death. The sun was setting by the time Genji and Zenyatta left the ornate building to wander the streets of King's Row. 

"You were wonderful, sensei," Genji complimented his teacher as they strode down the boulevard. "So moving."

Zenyatta shied away slightly, his beautiful robes refracting bits of colored sunlight. "They were not my words, Genji. I simply repeated them in a time when repetition was necessa-" 

There was suddenly the sound of a frightened, distinctly artificial shout as well as metal scraping stone. Master and student exchanged knowing glances before Genji strode confidently forward, Zenyatta quick to follow. A brief sweep of the area showed that, less than a block ahead, behind a corner in a shadowed alley, two large men were cornering a female omnic against a wall and looked none too friendly. Female omnic units were incredibly rare. Having been one of the first models ever created, and manufactured only for a short time before the Omnic Crisis to care for children and the home, they had been the easiest targets during the war. Any working models that existed nowadays would be considered highly valuable to collectors on the black market, so the pair were aware of exactly what was happening. Genji signaled to his hands to let his concealed shuriken click into place between his fingers, but Zenyatta held him back with a sure arm. 

"We must attempt to fix the situation peacefully," the monk insisted.

Genji begrudgingly nodded and allowed his master to glide from behind their hiding spot, keeping alert, ready to spring into action.

"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" Zenyatta asked, voice calm and hands folded harmlessly in front of his vibrant robes.

One of the men, who had long blond hair and multiple floral tattoos, turned, face contorting in obvious distaste when he saw what sort of being was addressing him. "Leave, trash. This don't concern you," he barked in a thick British accent, proving him to be a local. His shorter counterpart focused on keeping the female omnic down.

"Please," the omnic pleaded quietly from the ground, holding herself as her voice quivered with fear. Some of her paint was chipped and her metal scratched. "Please help me, sir."

"Shut yer gob!" The blond attacker yelled, delivering a swift kick that had her whimpering in distress. 

Zenyatta took firm hold of his shoulder. "Stop this," he insisted in a hard tone. "Or I will alert the authorities."

"Who said you could touch me!?" The guy yelled and shoved Zenyatta back against an adjacent wall, interrupting the cycle of his ever-spinning orbs. The monk was utterly flummoxed by the aggression of these men while the female curled even tighter into herself. Genji's teeth set on edge from behind his visor. He knew that his master could easily handle these two thugs, but he wanted so desperately to intervene. 

Another kick, this time from the shorter man, was followed by a sharp cry, louder than any the female had made thus far, as small bits of her metal and drops of oil spattered onto the cobbled street.

In an instant, Zenyatta was between the men and the beaten omnic, his bright clothing fluttering from the impressive speed of his flight to reach the space. "Think about what you are doing here," he insisted. "You are harming, and are undoubtably intending to kidnap and sell, an innocent woman."

"She ain't no woman," the smaller man sneered, stepping closer to Zenyatta. "Just like you ain't no man. We'll be getting quite the pretty penny for 'er, don't matter if she's damaged so long as she works. And I'm sure we could get a 'lil somethin' for you, too. What with those fancy duds and pretty face you got."

He reached out a hand, dirty with mud and the female's oil, to touch the fine ceremonial garb, but his fingers never got the chance. One of Zenyatta's orbs shot forward, pressing the man against the very wall that the monk had been forced onto earlier while the blond dove, smartly, out of the way. Radiating an angry purple in the twilight, Genji knew immediately that it was his master's orb of discord. The atmosphere became incredibly charged. There was static clinging heavily in the air and a feeling as though an immensely powerful storm were forming directly overhead.

"How dare you?" Zenyatta bellowed slowly, his voice layered in a strange and threatening way that Genji had never heard before. It somehow sounded as if it were coming from nowhere and everywhere in the same instant. "How dare you do these things, act this way, on the day of my master's funeral!? HOW DARE YOU!?" Each word was punctuated with rougher and rougher shoves from the glowing orb to the short man's sternum until he was gasping for air.

Genji was at an absolute loss as to what he was seeing. His normally calm lover was completely losing his cool against this lowlife. Sure, the man had been going too far with his actions and remarks since the beginning, but in cases like these, Zenyatta would most assuredly keep up the role of a peaceful diplomat unless he felt that his life was truly in danger. At this point in time, it most certainly was not.

After words seemed to escape the seething monk, he pressed the orb of discord deeply into the man's ribs. Tears welled in the corners of his nervous eyes while his partner stood by and hesitantly watched, not sure of what to do. Finally, Zenyatta drew back one of his delicate arms, forming a fist as if preparing to deliver a punch. Genji's eyes shot wide.

"ZENYATTA!" the cyborg cried, stilling everyone in the immediate vicinity, but none moreso than his teacher who was not used to Genji speaking his name. His enraged state of mind suddenly shattered leaving nothing but hollow shame in its place. He called the orb away from the man, who then slumped onto the road, clutching at his chest and inching away from the monk.

Zenyatta appeared as if he wished he could do the same, stepping backwards and looking disbelievingly from his shaking hands to his student and back. After the second glance, the omnic turned and fled, floating higher and faster than was normal in order to escape this situation.

Genji wanted to run after him, but he knew that if he left the omnic woman alone, the men would simply finish what they'd started, making everything his master had done mean nothing. The next hour was nothing but an anxious blur to the cyborg. He bound the attempted kidnappers, checked over and stayed with the female until the police arrived, gave his statement, attempted to call Zenyatta and tried to locate him via GPS when his calls didn't go through, but he finally settled on questioning passerby about a floating omnic in red, white and pink clothing.

Genji breathed a sigh of relief as he neared the edge of town and found his teacher leaning dejectedly against a crumbling husk of a building. The pit of nerves that had been steadily building inside of him dissipated instantly and he lost the will to demand anything from his vulnerable lover. The cyborg, instead, sat quietly beside Zenyatta, silently offering support but not demanding that it be taken. Seconds ticked by, minutes, before the omnic said a word.

"Have I ever told you the story of how I came to join the Shambali?" he whispered.

Genji shook his head but held his tongue, the mood seeming too fragile to contain both his words and Zenyatta's. The monk reclined further into the large chunk of cement that had, at some point, been a building. 

"Once I was freed from the omnium's control," he began. "I was overjoyed to no longer be forced to kill. But I was left to aimlessly wander this world with no purpose and no companions. With nothing but memories of years of slaughter and violence. No matter where I went, no one wanted anything to do with me, though I tried to convince them that I meant no harm."

Zenyatta drew his knees up to his chest, peering sightlessly into the darkness of the abandoned boulevard. 

"They saw me as foreign and dangerous to humanity. City after city I was beaten and scorned. I longed for something better. I had heard tell of a new form of religion in the works and so I made my way to Nepal. I was attacked again along the way, andlike the female we just saw, I had not done anything. All they saw were my parts. It did not matter that I was sentient. It did not matter that I had feelings and insight. All they saw was a machine. One of the millions of machines that had terrorized them for years.

"I try not to blame them for their hatred. It was immediately following the Crisis, after all. That is when my master came and rescued me with the use of simple persuasion and kind words to my attackers. The group ended up going on their way and Mondatta turned to do the same, but I begged him to teach me his ways. To show me the way to solve confrontation without using violence and without doing nothing. The world was hurting and I wanted to help it heal.

"It was a long, interesting road from there, helping to form the order of Shambali as I studied under Mondatta. It was odd. I was essentially teaching what I was being taught. Sharing beliefs that I had only recently come to accept myself. I loved the challenge of attempting to bring peace to both omnics and humans in a time when it was much needed and for the first time in my life, I enjoyed living."

Zenyatta leant into Genji's side and the cyborg gently rested his chin atop the omnic's head, fascinated to hear so much about a subject previously unknown to him.

"I remember the day I chose my name."

A questioning noise sounded in the back of Genji's throat, so Zenyatta explained. "Omnics are not normally given names at creation in the omniums. We are simply known by our unit type, such as a bastion unit, or our serial numbers. My number was 7514109 and that is how most knew me."

The cyborg silently filed the bit of information away. The questions forming in his mind could wait until another time.

"Mondatta had long since chosen his name, based off one half of his favorite music album. So I had decided on the name Zenyatta, the other half of the title, to surprise him. But he had a surprise for me, too. Mondatta had done some research and discovered that we had been manufactured by the same omnium plant. Because of that, he saw us as more than master and student, he saw us as kin. To prove this, at my naming ceremony in the newly built temple, surrounded by our fellow monks, he called my name as "Tekhartha Zenyatta, his younger brother.""

Genji felt chills run through him as he pictured the scene. It must have been incredible to suddenly have family after a lifetime of being alone.

"And the surprises didn't stop there," Zenyatta confided. "It was only known between the two of us, at the time, but I was offered the chance to overtake Mondatta's leadership should anything happen to him. At that, I hesitated. Surely there must have been someone better suited than a beginner such as I, but he insisted that I was his first choice in a successor to lead those in search of unity. I accepted, of course. Who wouldn't. But that was years ago, and when I grew more comfortable with myself and my ideas, I told him that I felt I could better serve the world by leaving the monastery to travel and spread the message of our religion personally. I expected him to be angry or disappointed, to insist I stay. But he supported my decision wholeheartedly and let me do as I pleased."

His optic lights dimmed and for a bit, making Genji think that the monk had fallen asleep until he spoke again.

"I am sorry you had to see me that way, back in the ally. Though I haven't shown it, I have been feeling quite emotionally drained since the news of Mondatta's death and those men simply chose the wrong time to become confrontational with me."

Zenyatta lowered his head as well as his voice, as if he felt someone would overhear. "I hate when I'm not in control of myself and the things around me, Genji. I trust wholy in the iris, but at times, I can't help but want to change things for my own benefit."

Shock weighed heavy on Genji's features as well as in his posture. Zenyatta did not miss it, but pressed on, needing to get these feelings out.

"I feel that, had I been with him, had stayed his protege, his untimely death may not have happened, but the universe allows what must happen to happen. I pray that some good will come of his passing. Perhaps his message will be more readily accepted as a result."

Genji wrapped his arm reassuringly around his lover and let all of the information he'd been given sink slowly, deeply into his mind. He mulled the words over and over for a long while, thinking of how to properly respond, until Zenyatta was the one waiting for him to speak. It was then that inspiration struck. "A wise monk once told me: Do not be discouraged. Pain is an excellent teacher and adversity is an opportunity for change."

Zenyatta stared blankly at his student then gave a single, loud laugh. 

"Even the teacher can learn from his student," he said. "I see that you picked up on my repetition tactic." The omnic snuggled more firmly into Genji's embrace. "Thank you for being here with me, my little sparrow."

Genji had once felt great embarrassment from that nickname. Now, it only brought him warmth and pride. "Whenever you wish it, I will be with you."

"I wish it forever." Zenyatta whispered, feeling the need to jealously hide his student from any outside influence. His selfish need to be in control of things, again. 

Turning his head slightly, Genji shocked a gentle 'kiss' onto Zenyatta's forehead, feeling the mechanical form of affection more appropriate than if he were to use his lips. Zenyatta sighed contentedly, feeling much lighter than he had in weeks, and watched the humans and omnics interacting along the street with his student. He would unify them someday, and Genji would be by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> How was it? I'd love if you told me what you thought. :3
> 
> P.S. Zenyatta's serial number is simply "Genji" in the placement of letters in the alphabet. A=1, B=2, etc., so G=7, E=5, N=14, J=10 and I=9, hence 7514109. Real original and cheesy, I know, but what can you do? :)


End file.
